10-07-2005, 09:10 PM
<b>Women in the Hindu Renaissance.</b>
Hinduism has always eternally eulogized the femine aspects of creation and contains many female forms of the Divine like Goddesses Kali, Durga,Lakshmi ,Saraswati,Ambika and Uma.Worship of the divine and the Motherhood of God is a unique feature of Hinduism. Motherly traits such as tenderness, selfless and unconditional love, forgiveness, gentleness and kindness are attributed to the Divine Mother who is the very first manifestation of Divine Energy. Hindu Women are uplifted and empowered as the very shanty (omnipotence,omnipresence,divine manifestation) of the universe and enshrined as the consorts and co-creators of the entire cosmos (birth, maintenance and destruction) endowed with sublime virtues such as purity and austerity.
This rich pantheon of Hindu Goddesses provided inspiration ,instruction and solid historical precedent to legions of great Hindu women in the timeless annals of ancient and modern Hindu history. These Goddesses are not to be relegated dismissively to a mythical role but revered and accorded a sacred place as positive living embodiments and potent, endearing and enduring symbols hewn from Hinduisms perennial cultural and spiritual matrix which has given birth to great legends and heroines .
Hindu Queens such as Ahilya Holkar (1705-35) ,Rani of Jhansi, Durgavati and Keladai Chennamma were single-handedly entrusted with complex affairs statecraft due to death of spouses and hapless circumstance by male peers and kings. At times these women were shunned and belied despite their own sorrowful situations. Even though they had to maintain their duties of motherhood, homemaker and respective family roles and duties they initiated public welfare programs and dispensed alms and charity to the poor and observed strict religious faith despite orchestrating complex matters of state which were traditionally relegated to men of their day like collection of revenue and related army management demonstrating abilities far beyond their years to raise and organize armies, deploy weapons ,study enemy strategies and geopolitical manoeuvres,invoke victories and by virtue of their supreme courage and capabilities command and win the erstwhile flagging loyalties of their soldiers,advisors and commanders and defeat powerful and cunning enemies despite lack of strategic support, betrayals and demoralizing lack of faith in their womanly capabilities to uphold the honor of their respective states and kingdoms under siege by British,Moghul and other kingdoms.
Despite being commanders-in-chief these venerable Hindu Queens maintained exemplary dignity and grace pursuing their interests in art and literature. Patriotism was their lifeblood and many of these noblewomen stated that it was preferable to die with honor protecting their people and country form ravaging hoards rather than to live enslaved.
Hindu women such as Kasturba Gandhi and Madame Kama were a few amongst great Hindu women who plunged themselves into the freedom struggle.Kasturbaâs single-minded dedication and sacrifice to her husbands principles knew no bounds even adopting a Harijan child and raising her like her own which was very unorthodox for her day. Madame Kama the fiery patriot electrified audiences in Germany where she publically and proudly unfurled the Indian tricolor designed by Veer Savarkar at the International Assembly in1907 beseeching foreign audiences with her impassioned plea for succor and support for the cause of liberation of her people who had and continued to be robbed and enslaved by their cruel ruthless oppressive British masters for centuries.
These positions and precedents of the high place of honor accorded Hindu women in history in all fields of politics,warfare,art ,science, religion and literature contrast greatly to the biased so-called modern western feminist theories on the place of women in âthird worldâ reduced to a distorted depictions the âall-powerfulâ Hindu male chauvinist ceded cultural âsanctionâ to dominate the âpowerlessâ female.
<b>Author Veena T. Oldenburg in her seminal research âImperial Origins of a Cultural Crime. Dowry Murderâ dispels this generalized misinformation which has been consciously fed to western and Indian readers and audiences for years relatively unchallenged.</b> Gloomy portraits of dowry murder,inter and intra âcaste oppression, female infanticide, sati and child marriage are keenly depicted in mainstream international publications, films.
It is due to the often unexamined motives of those writers whose acerbic denigration of Hindu women place in society are posited as established facts. It is a fact that very many of the so-called evil consequences of Hinduism were malicious inventions of the British imperialists and their apologists who were recruited stem the tide of anti-imperialism influence international and domestic opinion
that the colonial presence in India was essential as a Christian âcivilizingâ mission render them incapable of ever ruling themselves.
Oldenburg testifies and corroborates the fact that the Imperialist reanthropolgized, reengineered and restructured a male dominated social ethos by introducing alien concepts of land and property acts that disproportionately discriminated against women divesting her of her status and power within the socio-economic family structure which had benefited her and provided her with security and protection for centuries.
In ordor to effectively remedy these layers of misconceptions It is essential that Hindu women organize and awareness at a personal and societal level through studied, sincere and involved research and contribution of articles and scholarship to academic forums,womensâs professional groups and guilds and media in to this little explored area which is taking on gigantic proportions in the constant gender conflicts which have been exacerbated by this confusion and lack of awareness into the spurious and specious motives and intentions of those who benefit economically and politically from engendering fissures in Hindu society in order to prevent harmony and progress and propagation of our Hindu Dharma.
Now that Hindu women are relocated in greater numbers in the western context and many are first generation born there will be a natural growth and evolution and transference of these newly discovered and revealed qualities towards independence, virtue and self esteem which will be a very important and vital role in establishing an identity and redefining our higher potential and objectives.Independance allows for inward and outward expansion in a very positive and constructive manner if we now take stock of who we really are and gain an absolute sense of mission, purpose and direction.
Hinduism has always eternally eulogized the femine aspects of creation and contains many female forms of the Divine like Goddesses Kali, Durga,Lakshmi ,Saraswati,Ambika and Uma.Worship of the divine and the Motherhood of God is a unique feature of Hinduism. Motherly traits such as tenderness, selfless and unconditional love, forgiveness, gentleness and kindness are attributed to the Divine Mother who is the very first manifestation of Divine Energy. Hindu Women are uplifted and empowered as the very shanty (omnipotence,omnipresence,divine manifestation) of the universe and enshrined as the consorts and co-creators of the entire cosmos (birth, maintenance and destruction) endowed with sublime virtues such as purity and austerity.
This rich pantheon of Hindu Goddesses provided inspiration ,instruction and solid historical precedent to legions of great Hindu women in the timeless annals of ancient and modern Hindu history. These Goddesses are not to be relegated dismissively to a mythical role but revered and accorded a sacred place as positive living embodiments and potent, endearing and enduring symbols hewn from Hinduisms perennial cultural and spiritual matrix which has given birth to great legends and heroines .
Hindu Queens such as Ahilya Holkar (1705-35) ,Rani of Jhansi, Durgavati and Keladai Chennamma were single-handedly entrusted with complex affairs statecraft due to death of spouses and hapless circumstance by male peers and kings. At times these women were shunned and belied despite their own sorrowful situations. Even though they had to maintain their duties of motherhood, homemaker and respective family roles and duties they initiated public welfare programs and dispensed alms and charity to the poor and observed strict religious faith despite orchestrating complex matters of state which were traditionally relegated to men of their day like collection of revenue and related army management demonstrating abilities far beyond their years to raise and organize armies, deploy weapons ,study enemy strategies and geopolitical manoeuvres,invoke victories and by virtue of their supreme courage and capabilities command and win the erstwhile flagging loyalties of their soldiers,advisors and commanders and defeat powerful and cunning enemies despite lack of strategic support, betrayals and demoralizing lack of faith in their womanly capabilities to uphold the honor of their respective states and kingdoms under siege by British,Moghul and other kingdoms.
Despite being commanders-in-chief these venerable Hindu Queens maintained exemplary dignity and grace pursuing their interests in art and literature. Patriotism was their lifeblood and many of these noblewomen stated that it was preferable to die with honor protecting their people and country form ravaging hoards rather than to live enslaved.
Hindu women such as Kasturba Gandhi and Madame Kama were a few amongst great Hindu women who plunged themselves into the freedom struggle.Kasturbaâs single-minded dedication and sacrifice to her husbands principles knew no bounds even adopting a Harijan child and raising her like her own which was very unorthodox for her day. Madame Kama the fiery patriot electrified audiences in Germany where she publically and proudly unfurled the Indian tricolor designed by Veer Savarkar at the International Assembly in1907 beseeching foreign audiences with her impassioned plea for succor and support for the cause of liberation of her people who had and continued to be robbed and enslaved by their cruel ruthless oppressive British masters for centuries.
These positions and precedents of the high place of honor accorded Hindu women in history in all fields of politics,warfare,art ,science, religion and literature contrast greatly to the biased so-called modern western feminist theories on the place of women in âthird worldâ reduced to a distorted depictions the âall-powerfulâ Hindu male chauvinist ceded cultural âsanctionâ to dominate the âpowerlessâ female.
<b>Author Veena T. Oldenburg in her seminal research âImperial Origins of a Cultural Crime. Dowry Murderâ dispels this generalized misinformation which has been consciously fed to western and Indian readers and audiences for years relatively unchallenged.</b> Gloomy portraits of dowry murder,inter and intra âcaste oppression, female infanticide, sati and child marriage are keenly depicted in mainstream international publications, films.
It is due to the often unexamined motives of those writers whose acerbic denigration of Hindu women place in society are posited as established facts. It is a fact that very many of the so-called evil consequences of Hinduism were malicious inventions of the British imperialists and their apologists who were recruited stem the tide of anti-imperialism influence international and domestic opinion
that the colonial presence in India was essential as a Christian âcivilizingâ mission render them incapable of ever ruling themselves.
Oldenburg testifies and corroborates the fact that the Imperialist reanthropolgized, reengineered and restructured a male dominated social ethos by introducing alien concepts of land and property acts that disproportionately discriminated against women divesting her of her status and power within the socio-economic family structure which had benefited her and provided her with security and protection for centuries.
In ordor to effectively remedy these layers of misconceptions It is essential that Hindu women organize and awareness at a personal and societal level through studied, sincere and involved research and contribution of articles and scholarship to academic forums,womensâs professional groups and guilds and media in to this little explored area which is taking on gigantic proportions in the constant gender conflicts which have been exacerbated by this confusion and lack of awareness into the spurious and specious motives and intentions of those who benefit economically and politically from engendering fissures in Hindu society in order to prevent harmony and progress and propagation of our Hindu Dharma.
Now that Hindu women are relocated in greater numbers in the western context and many are first generation born there will be a natural growth and evolution and transference of these newly discovered and revealed qualities towards independence, virtue and self esteem which will be a very important and vital role in establishing an identity and redefining our higher potential and objectives.Independance allows for inward and outward expansion in a very positive and constructive manner if we now take stock of who we really are and gain an absolute sense of mission, purpose and direction.